I heard the bells, they seemed to say

Full Text

1 I heard the bells, they seemed to say,
We ring! Ring! Ring!
We’re pealing out a cheerful lay,
We ring! Ring! Ring!
Re-echo what the angels say,
To tell how on that blessed day,
In David’s city far away,
Was born the King.

Refrain:
The glad bells ring, their voices tell
To nations far and wide,
Of happy Christmas-tide.
The glad bells ring, the tidings swell,
They ring! They ring! They ring!

2 One bell proclaimed, “I ring aloud,”
And tell! Tell! Tell!
The news to nations of the earth,
And swell! Swell! Swell!
That Mary’s holy child is Lord,
To all the earth, the sun of God,
Foretold within the holy word—
"Emanuel." [Refrain]

3 Another rang in accents clear,
I bring! Bring! Bring!
To send the echoes far and near,
I sing! Sing! Sing!
Good news to all,— O do not fear,
For Christ the promised One is here,
The downcast hearts of men to cheer—
His praises sing. [Refrain]

4 Then all the bells that Christmas day,
To tell! Tell! Tell!
In tones of perfect harmony
Rang loud and clear,
And from the steeples old and gray,
In chorus grand they seem’d to say,
We hail the newborn King this day,
The Christ is here. [Refrain]

Author: Frank E. Graeff

Frank E. Graeff was a minister in the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a prolific writer of hymns, stories, poems and articles.
Dianne Shapiro, from "The Singers and Their Songs: sketches of living gospel hymn writers" by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (Chicago: The Rodeheaver Company, 1916) Go to person page >